In The Wolf's Rain
by Chibi Reli
Summary: AU - 4 wolves are on the search for the blue-eyed wolf and flower maiden who can reopen the gates to Paradise, but it won't be easy with all the obstacles they have to conquer.
1. Blue Eyed Wolf Part 1

Hey guys. Chibi Reli here. I've decided to start a new story because it just came into my head and I had to write it. I hope you all enjoy it. It's a different take on exactly what happened. Also, there are some weird lines throughout the story that may make it seem odd, but not all of them mean a new scene.

In The Wolf's Rain

1 – Blue Eyed Wolf – Part 1

"According to the Book of the Moon, God opened the doors to Paradise and in the wolf's rain, wolves were brought in order to chase the demons away from the human world. Soon after, the gates were closed, locking humans and wolves together in the same world. The humans soon started to fear the wolves and started to hunt them. In order to survive, the wolves took the forms of humans and lived among them, but never gave up looking for a way to reopen the gates.

"The Book of the Moon spoke of only one true way to reopen the gates. To reopen the gates, four wolves would appear: a wolf with the ability to feel from others, a wolf that could hear what could not be heard normally, a wolf who could smell from miles more than normal, a wolf who could taste what seemed tasteless. These four wolves would meet the blue-eyed wolf who could see what could not be seen and the flower maiden made of Lunar flowers who would be produced from the science of the Nobles. Together, the bloods of the blue-eyed wolf and the flower maiden would be spilled in the wolf's rain, reopening the gates of Paradise and giving the wolves back their home.

"I'm sure now that there is no Paradise. There is no other world for just wolves."

"Are you sure we'll find the next one here, Kiba?" asks a guy dressed in leather and silver hair as he looks to his dark brown haired companion for an answer.

"Yes. I can feel the last wolf here," he says, looking down at the city from a bridge as he puts his hands into his black jacket.

"It's a big city though. There are a lot of people to look over," comments a smaller boy with redish brown as he sits on the ground.

"You know the drill, right?" The brown haired guy ask

"Yeah. I'll go look for a job," the silver haired guy answers.

"We'll go look for a place to stay," answers another brown haired teen dressed in a yellow sweatshirt as he pats the boy on the ground.

"I'm going to explore the city and try to find him."

"Lady Jagara, they are on the move. WE may have found another wolf as well," announces a man clad in dark grey robes to a figure sitting at a table eating a meal.

"Look for them. I want Paradise."

"This is the last place Toboe. Play your part well and we'll be set," the brown haired boy says as he rumples his sweatshirt and starts to walk towards an inn.

"I know what to do Hige. Just don't mess up this time," the boy says as he follows. Suddenly, a figure stumbles into Hige and knocks him off his balance, causing him and the person to fall to the ground.

"Hey, watch it," he says, rubbing his back. He then gets looks to see who ran into him and sees a woman dressed in a black leather jacket that went mid thigh and black boots that also reach mid thigh as she gets up.

"Sorry. Be back later," she says as she runs off.

"Hige. Hige? Are you alright?" Toboe asks as he bends down to his friend.

"I think I just saw an angel," Hige answers, staring off in the direction that the woman ran in. The boy gets up and sighs, making his way back towards the inn.

"Hey. Is anyone back here?" Hige asks as he and Toboe reach the front desk, looking for the manager.

"Yeah. What do you want?" asks an old man as he stumbles out of what looked like a back room and leans on the front counter for support.

"We would like to rent out a room for the night," Toboe says.

"How much do you have?"

"This much." Hige takes out a few bills and such from his pocket and shows the man. He stares down at it hard and then looks back to Hige and Toboe.

"Sorry, but that won't get you anything here," the man says as he starts to head out.

"Come on old man. You gotta let us have a place. I can't let my little brother here sleep outside again," Hige says, trying to sound sad as he leans over the counter towards the man.

"I said no. I don't want you staying here. Seem too much like a bunch of wolves to me."

"What?" the two guys say in unison, looking at each other in shock.

"He has to be around here somewhere. I feel a presence," Kiba says to himself as he wonders about the streets of the market. He continues to wonder down the street and soon passes a girl in black running opposite to him. He stops suddenly at the encounter and turns to look in the direction she went in, only to see a giant crowd of people covering her. "Could she be the one?"

The four guys find themselves sitting at a table in a local bar, as they discuss the day.

"Did you find someplace Tsume?" Kiba asks the silver haired guy.

"Yeah. Easy enough. Also found one for Hige. It will help bring in more money."

"But you know how much I hate to work," Hige complains, dropping his head on the table for emphasis.

"Did you two find someplace?" Kiba asks the two others.

"Yeah. We found a little hotel, but the old man wouldn't let us stay. We were thinking about checking it out later again," Hige answers.

"Did you have any luck Kiba?" Toboe asks.

"I thought I did. IN the market, I thought I felt something. I tried to follow it, but there were too many humans in the way." Hige looks around the bar and sees a woman getting on the stage.

"Hey. That's the woman we saw running out of the hotel today. I would recognize that scent anywhere," Hige mentions.

"That's the same person I was feeling out in the market. I have a strange feeling about her," Kiba says as he stares at her a bit longer.

"Maybe she's the one we're looking for."

_Been a long road to follow_

_been there and gone tomorrow_

_without saying goodbye to yesterday_

_are the memories I hold still valid?_

_or have the tears deluded them?_

_maybe this time tomorrow_

_the rain will cease to follow_

_and the mist will fade into one more today_

_something somewhere out there keeps calling_

_am I going home?_

_will I hear someone singing solace to the silent moon?_

_zero gravity what's it like?_

_am I alone?_

_is somebody there beyond these heavy aching feet_

_still the road keeps on telling me to go on_

_something is pulling me_

_I feel the gravity of it all_

"That song. I've never heard anything so…enchanting," Hige responds as he watches the woman leave after taking her bow.

"It's like it's calling to us," Toboe says.

"I hear her yearning for freedom through that song. She has to be the one, as much as I hate to admit it," Tsume answers, eyes closed in concentration.

"The blue-eyed wolf that can see what cannot be seen will show the gate to Paradise," Kiba whispers to himself as he gets up from his seat.

"Well that went better than I thought. Now as long as nothing happens on the way home…" the black haired woman says as she walks down the street at night.

"Hey there pretty thing. What are you doing out here all by yourself?" a man says as he and a few other men walk out of a nearby alley.

"Looks like I spoke too soon."

"I know she's still here. I can smell her," Hige says, stopping and sniffing the air, as the other three wait behind him.

"I think it would be best if you just leave me alone already." The gang turns the corner to see the woman from earlier being surrounding by a few unfriendly looking men.

"Looks like the girl's in trouble," Tsume says.

"Maybe then we should help the lady out," Hige says as he starts to move.

"I think it would be best if you just leave me along already," the woman says as she lets her head hang down with her eyes closed.

"And what's a little girl like you gonna do?" one guy says as he approaches her. The woman puts herself in a position to show that she's ready to fight before a voice interrupts her.

"More like what are we gonna do to you?" They all look in the direction of the voice to see four new guys in front of them.

"You kids should really get out of here. You don't want anything bad to happen," the first man says.

"We should be saying the same to you. We don't want any trouble," Tsume says, cracking his knuckles.

"OH yeah. Let's show them guys." The guys charge after the gang, but Tsume, Hige and Kiba easily take them down. After seeing that each one is on the ground, they look around and see that the woman they were trying to save had disappeared.

"Where did she go?" Toboe asks confused.

"Hey. We save you from a bunch of goons and you don't even stay to thank us?" Hige says as he spots the woman walking down another street and runs up to her.

"I never asked you for any help," she says, hands in her pockets as she continues on.

"Well, I just thought that a pretty girl like you would need a little help," Hige answers, reaching for her hand.

"Who said I even needed any help? I was just about to teach those guys a lesson," the woman says, turning around and confronting him head on as the others catch up.

"Sure you were," Tsume says, then giving a huff.

"For your information, I am a champion kick boxer."

"Yeah right."

"Tsume," Kiba says, putting his hand on his companion's shoulder. He then looks towards the woman. "We heard your song at the bar a while ago. Where did you learn that song?"

"I don't know. It just came to me in a dream one night," she answers, looking into the sky.

"You work at a hotel right?" Hige asks, shaking her out of her state.

"Yeah, why? Are you looking for someplace to stay?"

"Actually, yeah. The only problem is that the old man there wouldn't let us stay because we didn't have the money," Hige comments.

"Did he also say that you resembled wolves?" the woman asks as she lets out a sigh and scratches her head.

"How did you know?"  
"Pops thinks that most strangers are wolves," she answers turning around and making her way down the road again.

"So do you think that you could maybe give us a good looking guy discount?" Hige asks as he falls into step with her.

"Sorry, but that isn't my thing. I just help out with the place for Pops." She continues to walk, but suddenly stops as she Toboe in front, starring up at her.

"Please miss. We've hadn't had a decent place to sleep for such a long time and all we're asking for is a room, it doesn't even have to be warm or even have a bed," he asks, pleading.

"Well, I can't say no to a cute kid like you and you haven't done anything wrong. I guess I can let you and the guy in the leather jacket in for free. The other two have to pay full price," she says, pointing towards Hige and Tsume for emphasis.

"Thank you so much. This really means a lot to us. I'm Kiba. That's Toboe, Tsume and…"

"Hige," he says, putting out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, I guess," she says as she starts walking again.

"So what's your name?" Toboe asks as they walk towards the inn.

"Blue."

The old man from before walks down the hallway of his business, rifle in tow and sees Blue and the guys in front of one the guest rooms. "Blue. You're home. And who exactly are these guys with you?" he asks, bringing his gun up, startling and putting the guys on edge.

"They're customers Pops. I'm just showing them to their room. Now why don't you go head back to bed? I won't be able to help out tomorrow."

"I don't want them here," he says, cocking his gun and aiming.

"Pops, money is money and even if they are wolves, we still need the money," Blue says as she walks towards the man and covers the rifle with her hand.

"Fine, but if anything happens, it's all you," he says as he puts down the gun and walks in the other direction.

"Alright Pops. Goodnight." She turns back towards the guys and opens the door for them, letting the guys follow her in. "Sorry about that guys. He's getting old. Here's your room. There's the bed and the bathroom's over there. Any questions?"

"Do we get any special room service?" Hige asks grinning.

"No. Good night," she says as she quickly exits the room. AS Hige starts to get comfortable on the floor, Tsume hits him on the side of the head.

"What was that for?" he asks, rubbing his head.

"Can't you ever shut your big mouth? That woman was ready to kick us out," Tsume responds.

"No she wasn't."

"Yes she was," Kiba replies. "WE should at least be glad she let us stay here after all the things you said."

"DO you really think that Blue and that old man believe we are wolves?" Toboe asks as he sits on the bed.

"The old man might just because he's old. Blue on the other hand, is going to have to believe once we show her the truth," Tsume comments.

"That is, if she really is the one we've been looking for," Kiba says.

"I hope she is because she's hot," Hige comments.

"I swear if it wasn't for that nose of yours I would kill you for all your stupid things," Tsume says, giving Hige a small punch on the head.

"Hey, that hurt. Well anyways, I'm gonna go for a walk. I'll see you all in the morning," Hige says as he rubs his head and heads out the door.

"Where is all that noise coming from? It sounds like there's a fight going on," Tsume says to himself as he walks down a flight of stairs and opens the door at the bottom. Ahead of him hiding behind something he sees Hige watching something. "What exactly are you doing down here?" Tsume asks as he approaches Hige.

"Shh. She'll hear you," Hige says, pointing in the direction that he's looking in to see Blue punching the life out of an old red punching bag. Around her is a small gym and trophy case.

"I was walking around when I heard something like fighting and then caught her scent. And you?"

"I heard punching and went to try to find it. So is she any good?" Tsume asks as he watches her.

"Well from what I see, she's not bad at all." Blue finally stops punching and stretches her arms.

"You guys can come out if you want to. I won't bite," she says, looking in their direction.

"Little do you know," Hige says to himself as he and Tsume make their way over.

"What brings you down here?" Blue asks as she rubs her hands, sitting on a bench nearby.

"Just wondering where all that pounding was coming from," Tsume says as he looks around at the makeshift gym.

"I'm just practicing. Sorry if I disturbed your sensitive ears."

"You're not that bad. For a girl I mean," Hige says.

"Thanks, I guess," she says as she takes off her bindings from her hands and flexes them out.

"So how exactly did you get those trophies? I mean, there must have been some pretty big guys in the ring," Tsume asks, pointing towards the case.

"I don't know. I'm just a natural fighter I guess. I've always felt that fighting made me feel the most complete compared to everything else. It seems to be innate."

"Will you be fighting anytime soon?" Tsume asks.

"Tonight. In the big dome in the center of town. Can't miss it. Now if you don't mind, I need to take a shower, take a quick nap and go run a few errands."

"Would it be alright if I joined you? I really don't know the city and since you do…" Hige asks as he tries to act convincingly.

"As long as you don't mind carrying things I guess I can show you a few things," Blue says as she grabs a nearby bag and slings it across her shoulder.

"Great. I'll wait for you in the lobby then around 9, unless you wouldn't mind me joining you for the shower and that nap?"

"Don't push your luck chubby. See ya," she says, punching his arm and leaving.

"Damn. She punches just as hard as you do Tsume," he says, rubbing his arm.

"I think I might get along with that girl after all. Seems like she actually has a brain," Tsume says as he punches Hige in the same place as Blue did.

"Why am I the one being hit all the time?"

"Where's Hige?" Toboe asks as he looks around for Hige after waking up.

"He went into town with the girl. He said he wanted to keep an eye on her," Tsume says as he walks into their room.

"You were talking to her?" Kiba asks.

"Last night while she was practicing. She also said that she would be fighting tonight. We should go," Tsume states.

"Then we can see her real strength tonight. She'll be fighting for real then and maybe the wolf will come out of her."

"Man, this place is huge. I never knew fighting was this popular," Toboe says as he and the other three find some seats in the crowded indoor stadium. People are already screaming and shouting as matches have already begun.

"It's usually not this crowded."

"What do you mean?" Kiba asks the guy sitting next to them.

"It's only crowded because Black and Blue is fighting tonight" the guy says.

"Who's that?" Tsume asks.

"How could you not know who she is?"

"You must mean Blue, right?" Toboe asks.

"That's her real name kid, but in this world, she's called Black and Blue. She is undefeated and has never been hit once. It's amazing. Plus, what guy can't resist a hot babe that also kicks ass?"

"I know exactly what you mean," Hige says before a gong is heard and the ref holds up the winner of the just finished match. New people now come in and start dragging away the body of the defeated man, cleaning up the ring, and a man's voice is heard.

"Ladies and gentlemen. It's the time you've all been waiting for. Our main event. Coming out of the North entrance, that 300lb mass of muscles who's known for his mean sets of kicks, Butch." Shouts are heard as a huge man cloaking himself in a black cape makes his way into the ring, then stripping his cloak to show all his muscles.

"And coming from the South entrance, is the beautiful, yet feisty undefeated kickboxing champion, Black and Blue!" The whole place erupts into a frenzy as they watch Blue in her usual black ensemble enter the ring as well, except much more calm. The two opponents look at each other and start to approach each other towards the center. A ref comes up and stops the two before they get a chance to start fighting.

"You both know the rules. Nothing below the belt and the first one out is the loser. Alright, ready, fight." The first move is made by Butch, but Blue gracefully dodges it by jumping several feet in the air.

"New information has been discovered by some of the sorcerers. They wish to talk to you immediately about the journey to Paradise," says the man in grey robes to the figure from before, now in her study as she reads through a book.

"Fine. How goes the hunt?" she asks, turning a page.

"We believe that we will be closing in on them very soon. WE ask for some more time."

"As long as you can get me those wolves, I'll give you the time you need."

As the fight continues on, Blue continues dodging and attacking her opponent without breaking a sweat, while her opponent seems to be tiring out. Butch once again attempts another kick, only for Blue to dodge it.

"And Blue has once again dodged another attack with her amazing agility," the announcer states. Blue goes in for another roundabout kick and lands it directly in Butch's face, sending him into the floor, as Blue stands, stretching her neck.

"One more good combo and he should be out for good," she whispers to herself. As she sees Butch starting to get up, she gets ready for another attack."Listen to them Blue," a voice says, stopping Blue dead in the middle of the ring. Suddenly, she sees a black wolf with blue eyes looking straight at her, while standing in the rain, in front of a bright white full moon. The wolf then looks away and howls up towards the stars. Seeing this as an opportunity, Butch kicks Blue in the jaw hard enough as to knock her to the ground.

"OH my god. This is a first ever. Black and Blue has been knocked down."

"For all the hype, she easily got distracted," Tsume comments.

"Something must have happened to make her stop like that," the man sitting next to them comments.

"Like a vision," Kiba states.

"Looks like you're not so tough after all," Butch scoffs as he walks over and attempts to smash on her with his foot, but Blue easily rolls away and puts herself into a squatting position.

"You were just lucky. I had my attention somewhere else at that moment," she says as she checks her jaw to make sure nothing is wrong.

"You wish bitch," Butch says as he gets ready to attack Blue again.

"You did not just say that," Blue says as she gets herself up, wiping at her lip.

"OH but I did. You're just a bitch who couldn't function as a normal woman in the real world so you decided to come out a try it out with the big boys. Now if you just give up, maybe I'll let you off easy and even let you even be my girl for a while since even though you may be a bitch, you're a hot one. I'm sure I can whip you into shape." He looks straight at Blue who for the first time, starts to look angry, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides.

"It's people like you who make me hate this stupid race!" Blue declares as she explodes from her spot and lunges at him with tremendous speed and then barraging him with a combination of kicks and punches which Butch has no time to doge any. She then knocks him down to the floor with a powerful kick. Before Butch can lift his head, Blue is on top of him, with her hand wrapped around his neck. Butch then opens his eyes not seeing Blue, but what seems to be a black wolf with blue eyes, starring down at him bearing its fangs.

"What in the world…You're a wolf. A wolf," Butch says, eyes widened in fear.

"You wish, because then you would be dead instead on living with the thought that a little girl beat you." She knocks her head into his, knocking him out, then getting back onto her own two feet, checking her jaw again.

"And it looks like this match is over. The winner, Black and Blue!" the ref says, holding Blue's arm up into the air as the audience screams in approval.

"Did you see that?" Hige asks out loud in awe.

"I wonder if anyone else does," Kiba says.

"That guy sure did, just before Blue knocked him out," Tsume replies.

"She really is a wolf, just like us," Toboe says.

"Wow Blue. That was amazing. I haven't seen a man, much less a woman with that kinda strength before. Are you sure you're human?" Hige asks as he and the three other guys meet her in the back entrance to the inn.

"Of course. What else would I be? Though sometimes I wish I wasn't," she says, getting the keys out of her bag to open the door.

"Maybe you aren't. Maybe, you're a wolf. Like us," Kiba says.

"What are you guys…What in the world are you guys?" she asks as she turns around and sees four giant dogs staring straight at her, a grey one, a red brown one, a light brown one, and a white one in front.

"We're wolves, just like you," the red-brown wolf that sounded like Toboe says.


	2. Blue Eyed Wolf Part 2

In The Wolf's Rain

2- Blue Eyed Wolf – Part 2

"Wow Blue. That was amazing. I haven't seen a man, much less a woman with that kinda strength before. Are you sure you're human?" Hige asks as he and the three other guys meet her in the back entrance to the inn.

"Of course. What else would I be? Though sometimes I wish I wasn't," she says, getting the keys out of her bag to open the door.

"Maybe you aren't. Maybe, you're a wolf. Like us," Kiba says.

"What are you guys…What in the world are you guys?" she asks as she turns around and sees four giant dogs staring straight at her, a grey one, a red brown one, a light brown one, and a white one in front.

"We're wolves, just like you," the red-brown wolf that sounded like Toboe says.

"I'm not a wolf. I'm a human," Blue says as she slowly backs away from the four wolves.

"You are a wolf that has forgotten who you are. You are the blue-eyed wolf that will show us the gate to Paradise," the white wolf that sounded like Kiba says as he slowly makes his way towards Blue.

"This has to be a dream or else I'm going crazy. Maybe that knock to the head did more than I thought," Blue says, now grabbing her head and shaking it.

"Try it. Try to become a wolf. That song that you sang was full of yearning for your true self and the strength that you have is not normal for a human. Close your eyes and imagine yourself as a wolf," the white wolf says again.

"Try it. There's nothing to lose," the tanish wolf that sounded like Hige says.

"Oh man, I gotta get outta here." Starts to turn but the grey wolf cuts her off, growling and then lunges at her. She's able to dodge it and attacks back, this time as a black wolf. "Get the hell away from me," she says, bearing her fangs at the grey wolf.

"Not until you look at yourself," the grey wolf that sounded like Tsume says as he walks around her. Confused, Blue looks towards the ground and no longer sees her feet.

"What in the...I have paws. This has to be a dream," Blue says as she stares down at herself and starts to back away from the group. While in her thoughts, she doesn't notice Tsume sneaking in back of her, only to bite her tail.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?' she says, turning herself towards Tsume's wolf form.

"Now do you think it's a dream," Tsume says.

"According to legend, you are the blue-eyed wolf that can see what cannot be seen that will show us the gate to Paradise," Kiba says.

"So what I saw was really me?" Blue says to herself.

"What do you mean?" Hige asks.

"Right before I got hit, I had this vision I guess where I saw a black wolf with blue eyes. And then there were all those other times."

"What times?" Kiba asks.

"I've had something like visions for most of my life. Most of them being about this place. IT looks like nothing I've ever seen on this planet. It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. There's grass all around filled with trees and flowers and other animals running free," Blue says.

"You must have been seeing Paradise," Hige says.

"That means that you really are the one. Now we can go open the gates. Our journey will finally be over!" Toboe says as he starts to run around Blue in excitement.

"This is all just too much right now. How is this even possible? They said that wolves were dead hundreds of years ago. How can they be humans?" Blue says, as she sits on the ground.

"We've learned to adapt to survive in this world. The humans soon got scared of us after we were let in in order to save them. So in order to survive, we were able to trick others into thinking that we were humans, so that we wouldn't all die out. And now, so many wolves are stuck in their human forms that they forgot who they really were. We want to open the gates to Paradise to return home and set all the wolves free. You aren't the only one who didn't know he or she was a wolf. There are hundreds out there just like you who are looking for a place where they fit in but can't. We need you Blue, in order to save our kind," Kiba states as everyone returns into their human forms.

"I don't know. It just seems way too weird and surreal. Are you sure this isn't a dream?" she asks, looking at them.

"I can bite you again," Tsume says.

"What am I gonna tell Pops? He hates wolves."

"You can't tell anyone about this Blue. If people saw you as a wolf, they would freak out and mostly report us to one of the hunters," Hige says.

"Hunters? You mean those guys who are always walking around in that armor? I thought they were just military people or something since weird things have been happening lately," Blue says.

"That's what they want you to think. They're really wolf hunters. Someone out there knows about us and wants all of us dead. Most likely because they want Paradise for themselves," Tsume answers.

"So now that we've found you and filled you in, we can get going on the rest of our journey,' Toboe comments.

"Wait a second. I never said I was going on any type of journey," Blue says as she gets up from the ground.

"But you have to. You're the blue-eyed wolf," Hige says.

"If you don't come with us, then this whole world will be doomed," Kiba states as they watch Blue open the door.

"Alright. At least give me sometime to think about this," she says as she goes in, closing the door behind her.

"I can't believe this is actually real. Wolf. Human. Wolf. Human. If this part is true, maybe everything else they're talking about is true as well," Blue says as she stands in front of her mirror, switching in between forms.

"It is." Blue turns around and sees Hige enter.

"Hige. How did you get in here?"

"I've learned a few things over time about lock picking and stuff," he says giving one of his goofy grins. "It looks like you've gotten the whole turning into a wolf and back to human thing down."

"Yeah. It's not as hard as I thought it was going to be," she says, looking at herself in the mirror.  
"I wouldn't be so sure. Usually when you get spooked or really angry, you automatically transform into your real form which can really be a bad thing. Just make sure to keep everything in check."

"I guess I need more practice controlling it then."

"I would suggest it. So, are you coming with us or not?"

"I don't know. I've spent most of my life with Pops and I'm used to it. But then again, no matter how much I tried to fit in, I never did feel right. Going out like this would be a huge step for me."

"Come on. You're a big girl now. You have to go out into the world at some point. You just can't sit around and only leave to fight. There's a lot of stuff that we encounter when we travel that you couldn't get if you just sat around in one town. So this is what you should do, get a neighbor or something to take care of your Pops and then come with us. If you come with us, you'll be helping to save Pops and you can't forget the fact that if he hates wolves, what's gonna happen if he sees you?"

"Maybe…" she says, looking at the ground.

"Why don't we go out for a run? You can see what it feels like to be a wolf," Hige suggests.

"Wouldn't that be dangerous though?"

"We can take to the rooftops and once we find a more barren area we can go on the ground. How about it? It would be like a test run?" Hige says as he grabs both of Blue's hands in his.

"Alright. I just gotta do one thing, so give me a few?" she says as she takes away her hands.

"I'll be waiting in the lobby then," he says as he leaves her room.

"Kiba, do you think Blue will come with us? She really didn't seem to want to when we asked her," Toboe asks as he sulks on the bed.

"It's hard to tell. She's lived her whole life being raised as a human. But you heard her say for herself that she felt like she never fit in anywhere," Kiba comments.

"And if she still doesn't agree, we'll just kidnap her. It's four against one anyways," Tsume says as he cracks his knuckles.

"You can't be serious Tsume?" Toboe asks.

"Of course I am. We need her to get out of here."

"So, what do you think?" Hige asks as he and Blue run from roof to roof in the night.

"I can't believe this. It feels like I'm flying. It's the most amazing thing I've ever felt," she answers, laughing. Hige flies off the roof onto the ground, Blue following as they continue their run down some of the darker and more deserted streets.

"I knew you would like this. It'd the only time that I ever feel truly free, even when I am running to save my own life."

"I wish I knew I was a wolf earlier so I could have done this earlier."

"Hey. Why don't we stop and get something to eat? I smell some really delicious food near by," Hige says as he sniffs the air.

"You probably mean Tony's. HE has good food every now and then, but at this time, it's usually bar time. But I think a friend of mine is working there tonight, so I can probably get something." The two take on their human forms as they walk towards the building.

"Another good thing about being a wolf is the whole sensitive ear and nose thing. Of course, yours won't be as good as mine or Tsume's. We're special. I'll have to show you sometime."

"Sounds like a plan to me," she says as she and Hige take a seat by the bar.

"Hey Gabe. I thought you might be working here tonight," Blue says to a blond haired man behind the bar.

"Blue? It's been such a long time. I didn't get a chance to see you fight, but I heard it was a fantastic match and that you won once again."

"It was probably the hardest one," Blue comments, grabbing her jaw. Gabe turns from her to look at Hige next to her.

"And who is this? You've never brought a man with you anywhere."

"This is Hige. He's a guest at the inn and wanted a tour of the town," she says, pointing towards Hige.

"Nice to meet you," Hige says, holding out his hand. Gabe takes it and shakes.

"Same here. Do you two want anything?"

"Anything that's edible, if you don't mind," Hige says.

"Not a problem. I'll be right back."

"Damn it," Hige says as he looks towards the door and watches two men clad in black armor enter.

"What is it Hige?" Blue asks.

"Some hunters just came in."

"What should we do then?" Blue whispers so that the hunters that just sat down a few chairs away from them.

"I think that we should get ourselves outta here before they figure out anything."

"Can they figure out who is a wolf and who isn't?"

"Not really sure. Sometimes they figure it out and sometimes they don't."

"Then we should leave before they find out," Blue suggests as she and Hige get up from their seats. They slowly make their way out of the place, hoping not to be suspicious. One of the guards though catches a glimpse of them walking out and motions his partner to come follow.

"Hige, maybe it's just me, but I think we're being followed," Blue says, hoping only Hige can hear.

"It's those hunters from the bar. They probably have some idea of what we are then."

"What should we do?"

"Duck into the nearest alley and then we'll surprise them. Get ready to fight with all you can." Hige grabs her hand and pulls her into the next alleyway. The hunters watch them and talk into what resembles a radio, and then follow the two into the alley, only to see nothing.

"Where do you think they went?" asks one of the guards.

"Who knows?" The two try to go in deeper, but suddenly get ambushed as two wolves.

"Damn it. They're wolves." As one goes down, the other pulls a small device from his waist and aims it at Blue as she comes around to attack again. He pushes a small button as a wave is sent out, knocking Blue backwards into the wall.

"Blue!" Hige screams, as he knocks down the second guard. HE picks up Blue and then leaps onto the rooftop.

"Hige, what in the world was that?" Blue asks as she starts to get up, only to be pulled by Hige as they start running.

"One of the hunter's secret weapons. Some kind of spell that sends out a blast that can knock us out. You gotta be careful about those next time. It wasn't as powerful as the one they usually use though."

"Okay. But I don't think we exactly left on good note with them," Blue says.

"Which is why we gotta go to Kiba and the others and tell them the bad news now."

"I wonder where Hige is. He's been gone for a long time," Toboe complains again.

"Probably stealing food from some place or even bothering some of those human girls," Tsume comments.

"Maybe he's trying to convince Blue to come with us," Toboe suggests, sounding hopeful.

"Then there's probably an even smaller chance of her joining us then," Tsume says as Kiba and him suddenly become alert.

"Something's wrong," Kiba says as Blue and Hige come running into the room.

"Hige! Blue! You're back!" Toboe exclaims, getting off the bed.

"Yeah, but there are more important things right now. Like the fact we gotta get our asses outta here," Hige says, as they try to catch their breaths.

"What did you do this time Hige?" Tsume asks,

"We were out when we realized that those hunter guys were following us. So Hige decided that we should hide and take them down, but it didn't work so well. And then they contacted some of their friends and right now are hunting us down."

"And that's why we need to leave now," Hige says as he opens the window as an escape exit.

"They know about you now Blue, you know that?" Kiba says.

"I know. I'm not stupid."

"Now what's the best way out of here?" Tsume says.

"There's a small reservoir on the side of town along with a pipeline that leads out of town. I don't think that many people know about it, plus the pipe is small enough that a normal sized person can't fit in it, but maybe a wolf can. There are pipes on the edges though for some cover, so there may be times when we're more vulnerable than others."

"Then we'll just have to make a run when the time comes. You think you're up to it runt?" Tsume says, looking at Toboe.

"Of course I am. Let's go."

"Since you know the way Blue, you can lead the way," Kiba says.

"Ladies first," Hige says, motioning her towards the window.

"Maybe they've already escaped. I don't see any traces of wolves anywhere," says a hunter from the ground. Above them on a nearby roof, 5 wolves look down at them, thinking about their next move.

"There are two Hunters below us and who knows how many around."

"All we have to do is make it into the reservoir and just be extra cautious for when Hunters come. When they do, we can just hide in the pipes. At the end is the pipeline that should lead out of town."

"Tsume and I will take the Hunters down. You guys stay here until we're done." With that, the grey and white wolves jump down from the roof, onto the unexpecting men below. As they attempt to shoot, they are unsuccessful, giving the wolves a chance to take them down. At that moment, the remaining wolves jump down, Blue taking the lead as they run down the cement slope.

"How far until we reach the pipeline?" Hige asks.

"It shouldn't be that far," Blue replies as she continues to lead.

"I hear more Hunters coming this way," Tsume says, stopping in his place.

"This way," Blue signals as she ducks into a nearby pipe along with the others.

"How far are they Tsume?" Kiba asks. Tsume closes his eyes as his ears twitch around.

"I think they're getting closer."

"Hige, get ready to attack," Kiba tells Hige since he is the one closest to the exit. A few moments later, an armored leg appears and Hige bounds out from the hiding place, attacking the enemy. As soon as he hits the first, the second starts shooting at Hige, but he's able to dodge them and goes for his shooter. The first guard, still alive, makes a reach for his gun and shoots it into the air as Hige finally kills the second enemy. Tsume leaves the spot now and goes for the first guy's throat, making sure he's dead.

"Make a run for it," Hige says as they all make there way towards their destination.

"Why didn't you make sure he was dead Hige? That way he wouldn't have signaled for others!" Tsume shouts as they sprint down just as more boots running are being heard. Suddenly, shots are fired at the gang.

"I would've if that other guy wasn't shooting at me," Hige comments back.

"Stop fighting you two. The pipe is straight ahead of us. All we have to do is make it in," Blue says as they soon arrive at the pipeline they've been going for. One by one they run inside it, escaping from their enemies. The Hunters stop their firing.

"Just don't stand there you idiots. Get down their and try to get into that pipe. We need to see where it went to."

"Hey. There's a light up ahead. I can see it," Toboe says as he starts running towards the exit, only to suddenly stop.

"Why did you stop Toboe?" Hige asks.

"Blue never said anything about a huge jump into a river or anything.

"Man, that does look kind of down there," Hige says, as he pushes his way towards the front to look for himself.

"How was I supposed to know this would lead to here? I just knew it led out of town," Blue tells everyone in self-defense.

"We can argue later. Just jump," Tsume says, starting to get aggravated.

"You heard the guy Toboe," Hige says as he pushes Toboe out, making him scream in fright as he goes plunging into the water. The others soon follow after, all landing with a big splash into the water below.

"Lady Jagara. It has come to my attention that our Hunters have lost the wolves they were after."

"Did any of them report a maiden with them?"

"I don't believe so my Lady."

"I see. Order them to go and continue their hunt. We have nothing to worry about as long as they do not have the flower maiden."

"Blue. Blue. Where are you?" Pops screams in his little home as he heads towards what was Blue's room. He approaches the door and sees a note addressed to him tacked on. He takes it down and starts to read.

Dear Pops,

If you are reading this, it means that I have left for a while. After meeting some people, I've felt the need to go out into the world to discover who I really am, because to tell the truth, I've never truly felt like I've belonged somewhere. I hope that by going out into the world, I can discover who I really am. I hope to return as soon as I have figured things out. I'll never forget your love. Also, I have another note to give to Mrs. Sage. She'll help with the cooking.

-Blue

After reading, Pops takes the note and crumples it into a ball. "IT was those boys. Those damn wolves posing as boys. They took away something from me again. But this time, I won't let them get away."

"Man, I never want to do that again," Hige says as he and the others get out of the water and shake themselves off.

"You know you can never go back now Blue. They'll at least have a few guards in the town since there's been a wolf sighting there," Kiba says as he watches the girl dry off.

"I kinda figured that out already. But now what am I supposed to do?" Blue asks, knocking any water out of her head.

"Travel with us of course. You're one of the chosen wolves. It's your destiny to travel with us," Tsume says as the four guys start to gather into their pack.

"IT isn't so bad. We get lots of freedom and all we have to really worry about is getting killed or dying of starvation," Hige mentions.

"Plus you've been awakened. IT means at any time you could change into a wolf and then the hunters would be after you again. At least in a group, you're safer and we can teach you things," Kiba finishes off and the four wait for her answer.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice then do I?" she asks, looking at them in their wolf form.

"Not really. Welcome to the pack," Toboe says.

"Let's head out. It's best not to stay around here too long," Kiba instructs. The four guys start to walk off as Blue stays a minute and looks back at her old town.

"Stay well Pops. I'll miss you," she whispers to herself.

"Hey Blue. Come on," Hige shouts. She turns around and sees that they have already gotten some distance away.

"Alright. I'm coming," she says, taking one last look and then heading up to the others.

I really hope you guys are enjoying this story. I am really having fun writing it, but I still want to know what everyone else thinks, so please review.


	3. Legends Untold

In The Wolf's Rain

2- Legends Unfold

"When is it going to stop raining Tsume?" Toboe asks as the four guys lay around patiently waiting for the rain outside to stop.

"How am I supposed to know? Does it look like I have the power to control the weather?" Tsume snaps, moving his head away from the runt.

"I was just asking. It's so quiet and boring," Toboe says.

"Will you guys be quiet, I'm trying to get some sleep," Hige complains, putting his paws over his ears in order to block out the sound of voices.

"But you've been starring at Blue ever since we got in here," Toboe comments as he looks at the only female, sitting by the cave opening. Suddenly, Kiba gets up from his spot on the ground.

"Kiba, where are you going?" Hige asks as he turns his attention to Kiba.

"To Blue," Kiba says as he heads over. It has been a few days since the day they left the city. For the most part, no one has said much about what happened in the city or anything involving Paradise. They just wondered in what direction Kiba had started in, Blue always lagging behind them. On occasion, Hige and Toboe tried to get Blue to talk, but weren't able to get much out. Kiba then told them to leave her alone since she needed sometime to think. They all had their doubts in the beginning, but Blue's would be the strongest since she was the one who spent the most time as a human without herself knowing who she really was. It then started to rain a few hours ago, but luckily they came across this cave. The four guys taking a break in the back as Blue stayed in her wolf form, starring out into the rain as it started to get darker. Once Kiba arrives next to her, he takes a seat a few feet away and stares out into the rain as well.

"Kiba, tell me everything. Everything there is about Paradise and the legend," Blue says, keeping her head in the same direction.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Kiba asks, turning to look at her.

"If I'm gonna be a part of this, I want to know exactly what I'm getting myself into," Blue answers, turning for a second to look at him wit her deep blue eyes, only to return back to staring outside.

"There is a book called the Book of the Moon which tells the history of the wolves. No one is sure who wrote it though. The book of the moon talks about Paradise, the world of the wolves where we all lived peaceful, happy lives. We were known as the guardians of God, the ones that kept the peace in any of worlds that he created. The book also says that at one point, while the humans were still young, many demons ravaged the land that the humans were unable to control because they weren't that intelligent. These demons were destroying the humans, so in order to save them, God opened the doors to Paradise and sent the wolves to the human world in order to destroy the demons and save the humans. And that's exactly what we did. Unfortunately, the gates to Paradise were closed, leaving us wolves with the humans. At first, things were okay, but soon the humans started to turn on themselves. There were some who became more powerful than the other humans and began to rule over them. Those humans became known as the Nobles. After a while, they soon heard about Paradise and wanted that world for themselves. That's when things became tense between the humans and wolves. These Nobles got people to hunt the wolves, whether it is to capture them to try to gain the secret of Paradise from them, or just kill us off. In order to save ourselves, we learned how to trick humans into thinking that we were humans, thought we were still wolves. Over the years, wolves started to enjoy their lives as humans more than being a wolf and decided to stick with the human race, decreasing our numbers even more. To this day, there are humans who are really wolves…"

"Like me."

"…and the Nobles still exist, looking for the way to Paradise. Somewhere in time, the Book of the Moon appeared and both wolves and Nobles were able to read from it. IT talked about how there was only one true way to reopen the gates to Paradise. It mentioned four wolves that would appear: a wolf with the ability to feel from others, a wolf that could hear what could not be heard normally, and a wolf that could smell from miles more than normal, a wolf who could taste what seemed tasteless."

"You, Tsume, Hige, Toboe."

"I went out after hearing the legend from my pack leader before the pack was killed and found Tsume, Hige, and Toboe. Together we are supposed to find the flower maiden made of lunar flowers."

"You mean a human made of flowers?"

"The Nobles would create the technology that would be able to produce the maiden from lunar flowers. Lunar flowers used to exist in both worlds, but now only exist in Paradise, and that's why we believe the maiden has to be from a lunar flower. The flower maiden is supposed to be able to form the gate to Paradise which we could all see. We are also supposed to find the blue-eyed wolf that could see what could not be seen. This wolf would be able to lead us to the location of the gate and hopefully help lead us to the flower maiden herself."

"And I guess that wolf would be me, right?"

"As far as we can tell. Blue is not a normal eye color for wolves, even black wolves. Together, the…" Kiba suddenly stops the story, looking down on the ground.

Blue asks, turning towards him once again to get his attention.

"Together, the blue eyed wolf and the flower maiden would be able to open to gates to Paradise. When that happens, all those who truly are wolves will realize who they are and have the choice whether or not they want to continue to live with the humans or if they want to return to who they are. That's why you are so important. Without you, we can't open the gate and there will be plenty of wolves who were in the same position as you – feeling left out, without a place where they belong. Does that help?"

"Yeah it does. Thanks." The two sit there in silence again, until Blue breaks it. "It looks like the rain is dying down. I think we should head out, don't you?" she asks, getting up from her spot.

"It's your call from now on, Blue. We'll follow you unless something comes up," Kiba says as he gets up, surprising Blue enough that she makes eye contact with Kiba again. She then starts to make her way out of the cave.

"Get the others then and give me a few," she says as she runs outside, leaving Kiba to head back towards the group.

"You didn't tell her everything," Tsume says as they watch Kiba come back.

"Like the part about her…" Toboe starts before Kiba stops him.

"She can still hear us. It's best not to tell her now. She's still questioning this path. When the time comes, we'll tell her. Now get up, we're moving out," Kiba instructs. The three others get themselves up and follow their leader out of the cave. They soon see Blue in her human form starring out.

"We're going that way," she says, pointing towards the moon.

"Why that way?" Tsume asks.

"In the vision where I first saw my wolf form, I saw the moon. So I thought that the best thing to do would be to go towards the moon."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Let's get moving," Hige says as he starts the pack going.

"All stats are normal doctor. She has also been responding to the different stimuli we have been giving her. Other than that, there have been no changes over the past few days," reports a man in scrubs to a woman with blond hair wearing glasses as she scribbles something down in her journal.

"That's good. It means that Cheza is finally stable. Maybe now we can start attempting to disconnect her from the system," the blond woman says, looking at the other, back to the journal and then walking towards a giant green sphere. Inside of this sphere is a girl with purple hair in white chained by her wrists and ankles to the sphere. She walks up to the sphere and places her hand on it, as if she was waiting for the girl to move.

"Doctor Degre, there's been a sudden change in Cheza's activity. She seems to be giving off strange signals," another assistant reports from her seat in front of the computer

"I wonder why. Maybe the wolves have finally awakened and are on there way here." Doctor Degre states as she goes towards the computer and looks at the stats herself.

"What should we do then?"

"Lord Okum most likely knows about whether or not the wolves are coming. Just continue to monitor Cheza's signals and report to me if anything changes," the doctor says as she heads back her station in the lab.

Outside in a lobby area, two guards stand at attention. This attention is soon distracted as a strange person comes in wrapped in a cloak and his face covered by an odd mask, only one blue eye showing. The man continues to approach the guards without anything. "Excuse me sir, but you can't be in here," one guard says as he points his weapon at the intruder. The other guard does the same, only to be knocked unconscious by a strange high pitched noise.

"Soon, you will be mine flower maiden."

"What's happening here?" Doctor Degre asks as suddenly the lights except for Cheza's had shut off.

"We don't know. All power as been shut off and we can't contact security."

"What about Cheza?" one of the assistants ask.

"Her system runs on a different system than the main power. We should still be able to monitor her." Doctor Degre checks the system and monitor, nbodding in approval. "She still alright. Her signals are getting much stronger now. I'm gonna go check for some backup power. Keep monitoring Cheza." She leaves the others and goes behind Cheza's prison, when suddenly her name is heard.

"Doctor Degre!"

"What's wrong?" she asks, running out from behind to see all her assistants lying on the ground. She lifts her sight and looks upon the strenage person from before. "Who are you?"

"There's no reason for you to know who I am," it says, approaching Cheza as the doctor gets in front.

"You're after Cheza, aren't you?"

"There's no reason for you to have Cheza. You don't need her, like I do." The man then takes off his mask, revealing a golden colored eye and sending the doctor to the floor with the others. "It's time Cheza. Come with me," it says, lifting its hand up to the glass.

Our pack of wolves continue their journey, Kiba taking the lead and Blue in the rear. A sudden pang goes through her head, making her stop. "IS everything alright?" Kiba asks.

"Yeah. It's nothing," Blue says as she starts walking again, only to hear a girl shrieking thorugh her brain. She brings her hands to her ears in order to stop the noise, but it conitues to get louder until she can't stop it anymore. "Stop it, please!" she says as she stops herself, her face contorting in pain.

"What did you say?" Hige asks as they all stop and look at the female.

"Stop it! Get out!" She says grabbing her head harder and shaking it, as she starts to pace around.

"Blue, what's going on?" Toboe asks, scared at the way she was acting.

"Stop it. Stop it," Blue screams as she returns to her wolf form and smashes her head against the ground in an attempt to stop the noise.

"What in the hell is going on?" Tsume asks as they continue watching her bucking around and hitting her head.

"IF she keeps this up, she's gonna hurt herself. We have to try to get her under control," Kibe comments, making a dash towards her.

"Great idea," Tsume says as he, Hige and even Toboe surround her, trying to stop her from her wild spasming. Soon, Tsume grabs and holds down her legs as Hige and Toboe each pin down one of her arms. She continues jerking her head and what she can of her body around violently.

"Come on Blue, calm down," Hige says, attempting to plead as he starts to look worried. Kiba makes his way over, kneels down, and holds Blue head straight, in an attempt to calm her down. She soon stops her seizures and the guys let her go.

"Shit. What just happened to her?" Tsume asks as they stare at Blue on the ground.

"She must have had some type of vision, an intense one," Kiba says.

"She doesn't look like she'll be waking anytime soon," Toboe says as she pokes her.

"We'll just have to carry her then until we find someplace for the night."

"I got her Kiba," Hige says as he gets Blue onto her back with some help from Toboe.

"Do you think that this kind of stuff is going to happen often with her?" Tsume asks as they continue moving on.

"Not sure," Kiba says, leading again.

"What happened?" Cher asks herself as she slowly gets to a sitting position and holding her head in her hands. She looks at the floor to see liquid covering it. She then turns around and sees that Cheza's bubble had been broken and she was no longer there. "No, Cheza."

"This way. There are more people in here," a voice says as the doors to the lab open again and Cher sees some new people enter.

By the cover of some mountains, the pack relaxes as they wait for the girl to wake up. She suddenly pops up, but grabs in head in pain. "Dammit. My head feels like it's going to split."

"You're up," Tsume says as the others look towards her.

"What happened to you Blue? Was it a vision? What did you see?"

"Calm down Toboe. Let her get herself together," Kiba comments, keeping his sight on her.

"I saw this giant green ball. And inside, there was something that looked like a person, a girl. A girl with blood red eyes and she was looking out of the glass at all these bodies and this guy, thing. I have no idea what it was, but the face didn't move at all, like it was someone wearing a mask. HE put his hands up to the glass holding the person and then something happened and there was pain. After that, it all went black."

"The flower maiden. Someone must have gotten to her before us," Kiba says as he looks towards the moon above.

"Are you sure that it was the flower maiden?" Hige asks.

"Why would Blue have a vision about a human or anything unless it was someway part of our journey? Do you feel well enough to go on Blue?" Kiba asks.

"I'm fine. Let's get this started," Blue comments as she starts walking. "_I just hope that this was the worst of the visions._"


	4. Where Wolves and Humans Live

In The Wolf's Rain

3 - Where Wolves and Humans Live – Part 1

"Can I get anything for you sir?" the bartender asks as an old grizzly in a trench coat sits down at the bar.

"Just a beer. You haven't by chance seen this lady?" he asks, showing a picture of Blue as a human to the bartender.

"Can't say I have. She's pretty though. Your daughter?"

"Yeah." The man takes the beer given to him and takes a big gulp down

"Why are you looking for her?"

"Because a pack of wolves kidnapped her."

-

A woman walks up the stairs of her aparmtnet building, two bags in hand. She reaches in her coat pocket to fetch her keys, which she uses to open her door. "I really hate hospitals. I'm just glad to be out of there." She enters her apartment only to see a man sitting in her couch.

"Hello Cher," the man says, standing up and taking off his hat to welcome the lady home.

"Hubb. What are you doing here?" Cher says, as she passes the man without giving him another glance, heading towards the kitchen.

"I was assigned to the break in and then heard that today was your day out. So I decided to surprise you and maybe see if you needed help with anything." Hubb says, following her in and standing by the doorframe.

"No thank you. I am just fine by myself," she says, now taking the groceries out of the bag and onto the counter.

"Do you not want company?" She stops unpacking and finally looks at the man.

"I just got out of the hospital. I just want to relax for a bit. And I can do that better by myself."

"Alright then. There a get well present for you on the coffee table and a package that was outside," Hubb says, putting his hat back on and getting himself ready for the departure.

"Thanks." Cher sighs as she finally hears the door closing and continues unpacking. "When is he going to leave me alone?"

-

"I thought that once we reached a town, things would get a little bit better," Toboe says as he and the rest of the pack make their ways through a small dirt road. On their journey, they had run into a small, rundown town. It didn't seem like many people lived there anymore, if any. They probably would've ignored it to if it wasn't for Hige smelling something very interesting.

"We're getting close to the wolves Kiba," Hige says, from his position in front, sniffing around in the air.

"Can you tell how many?" Tsume asks.

"More than us. I would say about 15 or so," Hige answers, looking back at the rest of the pack.

"Blue, you stay to the rooftops and stay out of sight. We don't know what might happen with those wolves," Kiba instructs.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Blue gives an annoyed look before jumping up onto the nearest building, being careful as she followed the others from above. The four guys finally enter an open lot, only to be greeted by a bunch of older guys around a fire pit. They all look towards the newcomers, until one them makes a move.

"What are you doing here?" the man in jeans and black and red jacket asks, a large scar on his left cheek and his clothes showing wear and tear like everyone else's.

"We just passing by," Tsume says, trying to act tough around the new guys.

"Why are you traveling around? Not many wolves do that now a day," another guy asks.

"We're searching for Paradise," Kiba states. There's a small silence before the large group erupts into laughter, leaving the four younger wolves confused.

"Paradise? You're chasing a fairy tale," the man with the scar says.

"No we're not. In fact, we have …" Toboe starts, but Tsume shuts his hand over his mouth to keep him from talking.

"Shut up runt."

"Oops. Sorry," Toboe mumbles as Tsume releases his mouth and Toboe moves back a little.

"And how would you know?" Kiba asks, curious.

"WE found the gates a long time ago. But as we crossed it, we discovered that it was full of poisonous gas. Many of us died. The few who didn't, stayed here," the man with the scar says.

"It was more of a hell then a Paradise," another says.

"We have been here ever since. And if you know what's good for you, you'll leave us alone," the scarred one says again. Suddenly, a woman appears from behind some of the others and walks up to the man with the scar.

"Zari. They're wolves too. Maybe we should be…"

"Corr," the one known as Zari barks at her, silencing her.

-

"Things don't look good down there. I just hope they're able to keep themselves in check," Blue whispers to herself as she watches everything unfold from above.

"And what's a pretty lady like you doing up here alone?" Blue straightens up and looks behind her to see two burly guys looking straight at her, a smug grin adorning both of their faces.

"Not now," she sighs as now two wolves come straight towards her.

-

"Another female wolf," Hige says, amazed.

"WE don't need anything from you. We'll be on our way," Kiba says. As they start moving, they suddenly see a brown wolf come flying off a rooftop and dropping onto the ground with a loud thump.

"Moss, what were you doing?" Zari asks, going over to the fallen wolf.

"There was an intruder, so we decided to take her down."

"We?" Suddenly, another wolf comes flopping off the rooftop, landing a few feet away from Moss. Soon from the rooftops, comes Blue in her wolf form, landing more gracefully, growling and ready to attack.

"Zal."

"Blue, what's going on?" Kiba asks, as he stands in front of the now human girl.

"These two wolves came up and started attacking me, so I attacked right back," she said, not taking her eyes off the others.

"You were hiding other wolves? Where are they?" one man says as the rest of their group looks around, ready to attack.

"There are no others. We're it," Tsume answers.

"Then why were you hiding a wolf?" Zari asks.

"Because we weren't sure what would happen once we ran into you guys, so we had Blue hide out just in case," Kiba states.

"One wolf and not to mention a female?" Zari asks again, intrigued.

"Hey. This female took down two of your guys. I'm probably a better fighter than most of your guys," Blue replies back.

"We're going. There's no reason for us to hang out here anymore," Kiba orders again and this time all leave the lot.

-

"Hey Hubb. Seems like the present didn't go so well," the man asks from behind the bar as Hubb sits down next to Quent, taking another sip of his whiskey.

"You could say that. Women are just too damn complicated." He puts down his hat and takes the drink given to him.

"They sure are," Quent says, looking straight down at the bar.

"Hey old man. Maybe Hubb here can help you out. This guy's looking for his daughter," the bartender says,

"She was kidnapped by a bunch of wolves," Quent says, sliding the picture of Blue over to Hubb.

"Wolves?" he questions, picking up the picture and studying it.

"Yeah. They tricked her into coming with them. I need to find her before something happens to her," Quent says, taking another drink.

-

"When is Hubb ever going to learn?" Cher says as she sits down on the sofa in her room, two packages in her lap. She opens the first one to reveal ugly, neon, multicolored scarf. "And he still has bad taste in gifts, but I guess it was nice of him to get something." She places the scarf on the side and looks at the package. "Strange. It has no address on it. I wonder what it could be." She opens the package up and sees a strange, brown leather book, closed with a clasp. She opens the clasp. She starts looking through the book, filled with pictures of wolves, castles, demons, humans and finally stops upon a page of a girl trapped within an orb of some kind. "Cheza?"

-

"I don't like this place. We should leave. I mean, there's no reason to be here," Toboe says as they hide in a broken down stone house, each guy on a different side of the wall and Blue looking out through the door way.

"No. There's something here. I can feel it. There's a reason why all those wolves are staying around," Kiba says, looking like he's concentrating.

"I don't trust them, especially that Zari guy," Hige says, lying on his back and starring into the sky.

"There is uneasiness about this place, but it is one of the few times we have met so many wolves," Tsume answers.

"Shadows," Blue murmurs.

"What?" Hige asks for everyone, as they all look at the black wolf.

"The shadows of past wolves are calling out," Blue says, turning towards the guys, her eyes glazed over and unfocused.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Tsume says, trying not to act confused.

"I think she's having a vision," Kiba says as Blue turns back towards the outside, and moving her head as if she's following something.

"Can't you see them? They're all over the place. I don't know what they want, but they're hiding something. They want to tell us something," she says before going off into a run.

"Blue!" Toboe shouts, trying to get her attention, but only leading to the rest of the back to follow her.

"This girl gets us into so much trouble," Tsume mumbles to himself as he follows the rest.

-

"Why are women so damn complicated? You can never please them no matter how hard you try," Quent says as he and Hubb continue on a drinking spree, glasses spread all over the counter.

"They should be more like us. We know what we want," Hubb says, putting down his glass.

"You've been married?" Quent asks.

"Yeah. And divorced. She filed for the damn thing. Says I was holding her back and that she couldn't love me any more."

"I remember when I first found Blue. She was scrappy little girl. Thought she was a boy at first glance. And now, I can't imagine not having her around. She was there for me even after my wife and daughter died. I need to find her."

"What if she really did go on her own and wasn't kidnapped?" Hubb asked.

"I can't believe she would do that."

-

"Hey Blue, where are you leading us to? I don't exactly see anything that would help us," Hige says, pulling up next to the she-wolf who has stopped a pair of metal gates.

"IT looks like a graveyard," Kiba says, looking around at the tombstones and dead land.

"How could you say this is a graveyard? Don't you seem them? The Lunar flowers. It's a whole field of them," she says, before taking a few steps forward.

"Kiba, what is she talking about?" Tsume asks.

"I'm not sure," Kiba answers as he and the rest stay behind, not wanting to get in the way.

"I've never seen so many flowers in one place. They're the color of the moon. The wolves are heading for here. They're looking for the gate to Paradise." She takes another step forward, before the field erupts into flames, burning everything in sight, hearing the cries of wolves from every direction and starting to become panicked, her footsteps seeming scattered.

"What's going on with her?" Toboe asks, concerned.

"She's terrified. Blue, what do you see?" Kiba shouts from behind. Blue pays no attention though as she continues to watch the field burn.

"Ah. I thought I heard voices. Hello," a voice from a figure says as it pops up from below, startling Blue from her trance, making her scream as she falls backwards in a dead faint.

"Blue! Blue!" Hige says as he lifts Blue from off the ground and the others look to see an old grey wolf, looking almost zombie like with hair growing out of both ears.

"I didn't mean to scare your friend like that. Will she be okay?" the old man asks, getting out from the hole he was in.

"This isn't the first time she's done this," Tsume says.

"What are you doing here anyways Gramps?" Hige asks, taking his eyes off of Blue, but not letting her go.

"I'm digging my own hole so the others won't have to worry about it. When you get to my age, you know when you're going to die."

"That's so sad," Toboe says.

"Blue said something about lunar flowers and about a gate to Paradise. DO you know anything about it?" Kiba asks, approaching the old wolf.

"My, my. SO many questions. There were lunar flowers here once, a very long time ago. But they were all picked away. And yes I know something about Paradise. I attempted to go there once. The gate is right over there," he says, pointing towards a small hill with a boarded up hole in the front.

"You have to be kidding me. That place reeks of death," Hige says.

"We came here once looking for the gate, but when the pack entered, most of them died. I wouldn't suggest that you attempt anything. Many go in and never come out."

"Daisho. That's enough. We have work tomorrow." Everyone looks at the direction of the voice and watch as Zari approaches them, hands in his pocket.

"Yes. Of course Zari. Goodbye young ones. Hope your friend is ok," the old man says before slowly making his way off. Zari then puts his attention back onto the 5 wolves.

"I thought you were going to leave?" he asks.

"We were, but then we decided against it," Kiba says, not faltering under the older man's gaze.

"Just stay out of our way then. And if I find out that you have stolen any of our food, I'll kill you," he says, turning around and leaving.

-

"Damn. I have to stop waking up like this. I hate these headaches," Blue says out loud, rubbing her head

"Nice to see you've finally woken up. It was a lot quicker than last time," Tsume says.

"Did I miss anything?" she asks, as she observes everyone's somber moods.

"Nothing much, except for the fact that our journey is may be over," Toboe says, sadden and sulking on the floor.

"That old man did say that was the gate to Paradise," Hige says.

"No. That isn't the gate to Paradise," Kiba states, earning everyone to look at him at the doorframe this time.

"How are you so sure? I mean how are you even sure that we're the so called chosen wolves?" Tsume asks.

"How do you explain all the visions then?" Blue asks him.

"Just an overactive imagination. We should just give up," Tsume states.

"We can't."

"I don't understand you Kiba. What's your big obsession with Paradise when you don't even know it's real?"

"I feel it. I've felt it ever since I was a pup. Before my pack was killed, before a human took me in, the feeling has always been there and because of that feeling, I've always had the need to run. And I know that there's something here that we need to find out.

"What a load of bull," Tsume scoffs.

"For crying out loud Tsume, if you are so damn pessimistic why are you even here?" Blue shouts at her companion.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" he says, his stature become more erect.  
"It means, if you don't even believe in Paradise then why are you traveling with us? Is it because you're lonely and we're the only ones that have the ability to put up with your attitude? IS there some other reason, like you're too scared to be alone?" she asks, taking another paw forward after every question she asks.

"Don't you dare assume anything like that about me girl, or else…" Tsume says, starting to growls towards her.

"Or else what? You gonna hurt me or something? Well come on then. Bring it. I'm ready," Blue says, getting ready to pounce. Tsume gets ready as well, only to slacken off.

"I'm not wasting my time with you. I'm out of here," he says running off into the night.

"Tsume. Blue, why did you do that?" Toboe asks, not wanting anything more to break up the group.

"Because he's a jerk," Blue states, looking at her nails.

"Man, today is not going well at all," Hige states, sprawling out on the ground.

"I thought I smelled you here. I brought some food if you guys were hungry," Corr says as she appears from the alleyway with a giant bag of food and tossing it into the groups.

"OH man. I'm starving. Thanks, um…" Hige stubbles, as he grabs a loaf of bread and takes a bite.

"Corr," the woman answers.

"I'm Hige. That's Blue, Toboe, and…hey, where's Kiba?"

"I'm not really sure. HE was here a minute ago," Toboe says, confused.

"It's nice to meet all of you. There's plenty of food for you guys," Corr says looking around, her eyes finally settling on Blue.

"No thanks. I'm going to go for a walk," Blue says, getting up and heading out.

"You shouldn't be going out by your self Blue. If something happens..," Hige says.

"Alright. Come on Toboe. Let's go. Maybe we can find Kiba or something," she says, waving for Toboe to follow her.

"Ok. I'm not really hungry anyways," he says getting up and following Blue.

"I guess that means more for us," Hige says, looking at the other female.

-

"Well look who it is. Mr. Paradise," one of the many wolves as humans sneers as the group watches as Kiba passes them by.

"Looks like he thinks he's too good for us. The idiot." Kiba suddenly stops in his place without looking at the group around the trash can.

"What you guys found wasn't Paradise. You weren't good enough to find it."

"Why you egotistical bastard," the now wolf says as the group gets ready for an offense,

"Just try me," Kiba retorts, before taking the first step.

-

"Why do you stay here? I mean, couldn't you have ever just left after not succeeding going through to Paradise?" Hige asks, finishing up a loaf of bread.

"There was no place to go afterwards. Our dreams were shattered. No one had any motivation. So Zari decided that the pack should stay here."

"Did you try to go through the gate?"

"No. I was the only one left behind, for the same reason most likely you wouldn't let Blue go off by herself. But by the way she handled Moss and Zal, it doesn't seem you would have to worry about her getting hurt," Corr says, a small smile appearing on her face as she stares up into sky.

"Blue is a great fighter. As a human, no human could defeat her. But things with her are a lot more complicated than you would think."

"I see. After all, not many wolves have blue eyes." Silence falls between the two.

"So, how do you guys survive in this place? I mean, there aren't exactly a lot of people coming in and out of this place."

"IF you want to know, I suggest that you and your friends go by the docks tomorrow morning." In the distance, a loud howl is heard, causing Corr to get up. "That's Zari. I better get going before he starts to worry."

"I doubt he worries about anyone but himself."

"He's a lot more complicated than he seems Hige," she says as she steps out of the house just as Tsume comes back. They look at each other briefly before continuing their separate paths.

"Hey Tsume. Want some bread?" Hige asks, holding out a loaf of bread for Tsume to get.

"Give it here," Tsume says as he grabs it and walks over to the other side of the house before taking a seat.

"You weren't gone that long. Did you find Kiba?"

"He'll be fine on his own."

"Why do you get angry so easily anyways Tsume?"

"That's none of your business," he says, taking a bite from the loaf.

-

"Shouldn't we be looking for Kiba Blue?" Toboe asks as Blue enters the cemetery and sits down by a nearby tree.

"He'll be fine on his own. HE probably just needs some time alone to cool off."

"Shouldn't we start heading back to the house at least?" Toboe asks, still standing and looking towards the way they came in.

"You can head back if you want Toboe. I'm fine here."

"But we're a pack, we should stay together."

"Things aren't as simple as you think Toboe. We're not just wolves anymore. We're also part human, even if the others don't want to believe so," Blue answers as she transforms into her wolf form and curls up against the tree.

"Blue, do you really think that gate the other wolves went through was the real gate to Paradise?" Toboe asks, lying down next to her.  
"To tell the truth, I really don't know. I wish I did though. We should get some sleep though. We don't know what will happen tomorrow," Blue says after she yawns and closes her eyes.


End file.
